AMA adds XR1200 series

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You may remember that six month’s ago we published a rumor that AMA Pro Racing was considering the idea of adding a Harley-Davidson XR1200 spec racing class. Today, that rumor became reality as AMA Pro Racing announced at the Daytona Bike Week that it would be adding the AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 Series to its calendar. The painful press release and our colorful commentary after the jump.

Press releases by their nature are one-sided and often approach things from the most rose-colored points of view. If writing press releases was a competitive event, the writer of this release would be our gold medal favorite, putting some of the most positive spin on a series that examplifies the AMA Pro Racing’s continued spiral into the darkest corners of hell. We’ll take it on paragraph at a time:

Daytona Beach, FL – March 4, 2010 – AMA Pro Racing and Vance & Hines are pleased to announce the launch of the new AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 Series, a spec-bike five race championship featuring specially modified Harley-Davidson XR1200 motorcycles.

Translated: Vance & Hines and Harley-Davidson paid AMA Pro Racing a whole lot of money, and possibly have photos of various AMA Board Members playing golf with the Devil.

This exciting new series will provide loyal Harley-Davidson owners, dealers and enthusiasts a chance to join the action at selected AMA Pro Road Racing weekends throughout the country.

Translated: We have to tell you this series will be exciting, because you’re likely not going to attribute that word to this announcement. We also do want you to realize that this “race” series is aimed at a market that centers around cruisers, and is comprised of middle-aged dentists, accountants, and guys who couldn’t afford Corvettes.

As the presenting sponsor, Vance & Hines will also serve as the official race kit supplier for the class. The kit will consist of a Vance & Hines XR1200 exhaust system, a Fuelpak fuel management system, race bodywork including number plate, single seat tail section and belly pan, 17-inch front wheel with matching front fender, steering damper, oil cooler relocator and race decal package. The cost for the complete kit will be $3500.

Translated: Ch-ching! ch-ching! We’ll be laughing all the way to the bank while you try and make the XR1200 look like a road-racer.

“We have racing in our DNA, Harley-Davidson has racing in their DNA and we are truly thrilled to bring Vance & Hines and Harley-Davidson back into AMA Pro Racing,” Terry Vance, a prolific champion as both rider and team owner, said of the new series. “The XR1200 has proven to be an exciting platform for spec racing in Europe and this class will be a perfect cost-effective platform to showcase new talent on a national stage. Many of the finest motorcycle racers all over the world got their start in the AMA Supertwins class of the 1990s.”

Translated: We’re going to just lie for a minute and then justify this series with some loose mentioning of racing in the company’s past, which an entire generation doesn’t remember because it happened before they were born. First one to mention flat-tracking loses the argument.

As in all AMA Pro Road Racing series, Dunlop will provide the spec tire for the class and Sunoco will fuel the racers with their Sunoco 260 GTX fuel. In addition to the Vance & Hines supplied kit parts, teams will be allowed to upgrade their suspension, hand and foot controls, brake components and instrumentation.

Translated: Blah, blah, blah. We were going to allow teams to use their own frames and motors, but our marketing intern advised us otherwise.

AMA Pro Racing Chief Operating Officer David Atlas welcomed the new series, “Adding another element to our events with a series of this caliber will be a great benefit to our sport. The specification of the XR1200 package will put the premium on the rider’s ability and will provide a great new class of racing that has ties to the past.”

Translated: We’re actually telling the truth now. This series will really showcase a rider’s skill, especially while they try and maneuver a 600lbs motorcycle through chicanes with some of Milwaukee’s finest engineering from the 1950’s.

Vance & Hines is also pleased to announce that the XR1200 Series will feature a $5,000 purse payout at each of the five rounds, $2,500 going to the race winner, $1,000 to the runner-up and $750 for third. Fourth and fifth place finishers will receive $500 and $250 respectively.

Translated: If you win, it might cover your travel costs.

For the 2010 season, the AMA Pro Racing Vance & Hines XR1200 Series will race at five rounds of the AMA Pro Road Racing Championship. The first race will be just north of Harley-Davidson’s Milwaukee headquarters at Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI. Next up will be the classic Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, moving on to Virginia International Raceway and New Jersey Motorsports Park. The season finale will be at Barber Motorsports Park.

Translated: We won’t even bother crossing the Mississippi River with this race series, despite the fact that’s where over 50% of the American motorcycling community resides. Hey, at least we know where our core demographic lives.

For more information, please contact Paul Langley, Vance & Hines Motorsports at (317) 852-9057, email to plangley@vhmotorsports.com or www.amaproracing.com.

Translated: Please whatever you do, don’t call the AMA…we have no idea what we’re doing.

Source: AMA